Hawaii League prospect reports

Any
mainland scout’s dream assignment is to cover games in Hawaii, but
until 2010 the Hawaii Collegiate League, in its sixth season, rarely
had the kind of talent to justify the expense that big-league teams
would incur in sending scouts to the islands to evaluate players.
Last
year, the HCL made a concerted effort to recruit more high-profile,
just-graduated high-school products than ever before, and a pair of
11th-rounders from the 2010 draft, both from California,
stood out among the elite talent in the league. One of those players,
outfielder Joc Pederson, ended up signing with the Los Angeles
Dodgers for $600,000 following the HCL season—and he wasn’t even
regarded as the best prospect in the six-team league at the time.
The
Hawaii Collegiate League fielded more high-school players this summer
than ever before, but the quality was not as evident as in 2010.
Stanford-bound lefthander Jon Hochstatter was the most-noteworthy of
three such imports from the mainland, but he was passed over in this
year’s draft and ended up failing to win a single game.
If
anything, the HCL made a more-concerted effort to incorporate local
prep talent into the league after seven high-school players from
Hawaii were drafted in June. In all, eight Hawaiian prepsters landed
playing time in the HCL.
Two
such players cracked the accompanying list of the league’s 15 best
prospects, including Kansas-bound righthander Robert Kahana at No. 3,
while another, Oahu righthander Tre Haliburton-Goeas, tied for the
league lead in wins.
The
state’s two-highest picks from this year’s draft, though,
lefthander Carlos Rodriguez (San Luis Obispo Blues/California
Collegiate) and outfielder Michael Suiter (Mat-Su Miners/Alaska),
elected to play in other summer college leagues. Rodriguez will play
collegiately at Oregon State, Suiter at Kansas.
The
HCL’s best prospect this season, meanwhile, was 6-foot-5
righthander Trey Teakell, who sat out the 2011 college season as a
freshman at Texas Christian. Teakell dominated the league and was a
unanimous No. 1 selection by everyone who saw him pitch this summer.
His Hawaiian experience should put him squarely in the running for a
starting job in TCU’s draft-depleted rotation in 2012.FAST
FACTS
Year
League Established: 2005.States
Represented in League: Hawaii.No.
of Teams in League: 6.Regular-Season
Champion: Oahu Paddlers.Post-Season
Champion: Kamuela Paniolos.Teams,
PG Crosschecker Summer 50/Final Ranking:
None.No.
1 Prospect, 2010 (per PG CrossChecker): Ka’iani
Eldredge, c/ss, Oahu Paddlers (Kansas; played in Hawaii Collegiate
League in 2011).First
2010 Player Selected, 2011 Draft:
None drafted.Most
Valuable Player: Jimmy Filter, ss,
Oahu Paddlers.Most
Outstanding Pitcher: Trey Teakell,
rhp, Kauai Menehunes.Top
Prospect (as selected by league):
None selected.
BATTING
LEADERS (League games only)
Batting
Average: Travis Israel, ss, Oahu
Paddlers/Waikiki Surfers (.359).Slugging
Percentage: Jimmy Filter, ss, Oahu
Paddlers (.540).On-Base
Average: Luke Esquerra, of, Waimea
Waves (.425).Home
Runs: Jimmy Filter, ss, Oahu
Paddlers (2).RBIs:
Luke Esquerra, of, Waimea Waves (24).Stolen
Bases: Andrew Rodriguez, of, Waimea
Waves (23).PITCHING
LEADERS (League games only)
Wins:
Sheldon Ekstrand, rhp, Kauai Menehunes; Tre Haliburton-Goeas, rhp,
Oahu Paddlers; Jip Richards, rhp, Waikiki Surfers (5).ERA:
Nick Pasquale, rhp, Waimea Waves (0.84).Saves:
Sheldon Ekstrand, rhp, Kauai Menehunes (5).Strikeouts:
Eric Van Wyk, lhp, Waimea Waves (51).BEST
TOOLS
Best
Athlete: Ka’iani Eldredge, c/ss,
Oahu Paddlers.Best
Hitter: James Stanfield, c, Kamuela
Paniolos.Best
Power: Luke Esquerra, of, Waimea
Waves.Fastest
Base Runner: Andrew Rodriguez, of,
Waimea Waves.Best
Defensive Player: Ka’iani
Eldredge, c/ss, Oahu Paddlers.Best
Velocity: James Yacabonis, rhp.
Waikiki Surfers.Best
Breaking Ball: Trey Teakell, rhp,
Kauai Menehunes.Best
Command: Matthew Johnson, rhp,
Hawaii Aliis.TOP
15 PROSPECTS
1.
TREY TEAKELL, rhp, Kauai Menehunes (Texas Christian/FR in 2012)SCOUTING
PROFILE:With
little opportunity for Teakell to find meaningful innings last spring
on a deep, talented pitching staff at Texas Christian, it was
determined by the TCU coaches that he would be red-shirted and use
the summer to make up for lost time. The skinny 6-foot-5 righthander
did much more than that as he quickly emerged as the dominant
prospect in the HCL this summer. Though he went only 3-2 for the
Menehunes, two of his wins were complete-game shutouts against
regular-season champion Oahu in his final two outings. Teakell closed
out the summer by throwing 24 straight scoreless innings to lower his
ERA to 0.91, second-best in the league. His velocity on his four-seam
fastball was customarily in the high-80s, peaking at 92, but it had
late, explosive life and it was his ability to throw all four of his
pitches for strikes that set him apart. He broke out his fourth
offering, a split-finger fastball, in his final two starts against
Oahu and got most of his strikeouts on that pitch, though will need
to learn to throw it and all his off-speed pitches harder as he
progresses. With a lean, athletic 6-foot-5, 165-pound frame, along
with a lightning-quick arm, Teakell should have little trouble
throwing harder as he gets bigger and stronger.

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